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Home -> Community -> Usenet -> c.d.o.server -> Help Required from DBAs !!
As the final element of my part-time studies for a degree in computing, I'm currently working on a project which will result in a 15,000 word project dissertation.
As a DBA working on both DB2 and Oracle for a British bank, I have chosen a project which combines current Database Administration issues as well as looking forward to the features introduced by object-oriented databases.
The aim of the project is to review some of the problems currently experienced within the administration of relational databases and to ascertain whether or not these have been tackled within commercially available object-oriented database management systems (OODBMSs).
As part of the investigation into current problems, I have created the following questionnaire and would be grateful if you could spend a few minutes of your time answering the questions before e-mailing it back to me.
The questionnaire is designed to be modified from within your e-mail application, and where possible, makes use of 'tick' or 'check' box style answers.
The major exceptions to the 'tick' or 'check' box answers are questions 7 and 8, which use a more standard question style. However, please do not be put-off by these questions, as I'm more interested in 'ball-park' figures rather than 100% accuracy. Failing this, please provide what information you can, as I would rather have 50 questionnaires which are 85% complete than 2 which are 100% complete.
Finally, to prevent filling-up this Newsnet group with questionnaire responses, please post all replies (plus any queries you may have) direct to my e-mail address which is 'jerrym_at_cix.compulink.co.uk'.
Thank-you for taking the time to read this introduction, and I hope you will be able to respond to this questionnaire.
Many Thanks for your interest ........ Jerry McKeon
Database Administration Questionnaire
-------------------------------------
Question 1.
Please give the name of the country you work in :-
Name of country is : _______________________________
Question 2.
From the following list of classifications, please indicate
(using a 'x') which ONE best describes the type of organisation
you work for :-
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|Computing | |
|Financial Services | |
|Government | |
|Manufacturing | |
|Petro-Chemical | |
|Public Utilities | |
|Retail | |
|Services | |
|Telecommunications | |
|Transport | |
|Other | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question 3.
Please indicate (using a 'x') the approximate percentage of your
working week you spend carrying out any of the following job
roles :-
For example, if your job is a mixture of Applications Programming,
Systems Analysis and Database Administration, indicate on the
appropriate lines an estimate of the time you spend on each of
these job roles.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
| |1 |11 |21 |31 |41 |51 |61 |71 |81 |91 |
| |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |
| |10%|20%|30%|40%|50%|60%|70%|80%|90%|100|
|+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
|Manager/Supervisor | | | | | | | | | | |
|Systems Analysis | | | | | | | | | | |
|Systems Design | | | | | | | | | | |
|Data Administration | | | | | | | | | | |
|Programming | | | | | | | | | | |
|Database Admin | | | | | | | | | | |
|Tech/Systems Support | | | | | | | | | | |
|Operations | | | | | | | | | | |
|Business User | | | | | | | | | | |
|Other (please specify) | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| .................... | | | | | | | | | | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question 4.
Please indicate (using a 'x') all of the application environments
within which, you carry out any of the job roles you indicated in
Question 3 :-
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|Development/Unit Test | |
|Module/Integration Test| |
|System/Acceptance Test | |
|Production (live) | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question 5.
Please indicate (using a 'x') all of the Relational Database
Management Systems you currently have some involvement with :-
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|DB2 | |
|Informix | |
|Ingres | |
|Oracle | |
|SQL Server | |
|Sybase | |
|Other (please specify) | |
| | |
| .................... | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question 6.
On approximately how many computers across your organisation, are
the Relational Database Management Systems you indicated in
Question 5 currently installed (i.e. the approximate number of
computers which act as relational database servers) :-
Number of relational database servers is : __________
Question 7.
Although an exact figure is NOT expected (i.e. a 'ball-park'
figure is sufficient), approximately how many database tables have
been created across all of your organisation's environments :-
NOTE : If you are unsure of how many database tables have been
created across you organisation. Please feel free to
answer this question by giving a range (i.e. between x
and y), or anything else you feel happy with.
Approximate number of database tables is : __________
Question 8.
As per Question 7, please try and give a 'ball-park' figure for
the number of Megabytes/Gigabytes (.... etc.) of disk storage
which is currently allocated to relational databases across your
organisation :-
NOTE : If you are unsure of the amount of disk storage allocated
to relational databases across you organisation. Please
feel free to answer this question by giving a lower limit
(i.e. greater than x), or anything else you feel happy
with.
Relational database disk storage is : ______________
Question 9.
Approximately, how many 'full-time equivalent' DBAs does your
organisation have to work with your organisation's relational
databases :-
Number of full-time equivalent DBAs is : ____________
NOTE : For the purposes of this question a DBA is anyone who has
any responsibility for database related tasks.
Examples of these tasks includes object creation, backup
and recovery, reorganisations, database performance
monitoring/tuning, database security (e.g. GRANT/REVOKE).
A 'full-time equivalent' is an approximate indication as
to how many full-time people carry out DBA tasks in your
organisation. For example, if you have 3 people who each
spend around 50% of their time on DBA tasks, this is equal
to approximately 1.5 full-time people.
Question 10.
For each of the following DBA high-level functions (please refer
to brief descriptions for explanations), indicate the relative
priority you feel should be assigned to them within your
organisation :-
When completing the following table, please indicate their
relative priority by numbering them from 1 (one) to 10 (ten),
with 1 being used for the highest priority and 10 the lowest.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|Database Physical Control | |
|Administration of Data Items | |
|DBMS-Based Application Control | |
|Hardware-Related Planning | |
|Database Design | |
|Software Planning | |
|Education | |
|DBMS Installation/Enhancements | |
|Database Security | |
|Database Standards Enforcement | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To help you understand what each of the high-level functions
means, the following is a brief description of each of the above
terms.
Database Physical Control :
Reviewing and implementing database modification requests,
performing database reorganisations and data loads as well
as tasks related to backup and recovery.
Administration of Data Items :
Documenting data items and the input and maintenance of
data definitions within a data dictionary.
DBMS-Based Application Control :
Performance monitoring and tuning to ensure a database
meets operational goals as well as longer term capacity
planning.
Hardware-Related Planning :
The evaluation and selection of database related hardware
(e.g. disks or special-purpose CPUs).
Database Design :
Developing logical data models and generating physical
database designs (Note: this is purely the design of a
physical database model, the implementation is covered by
'Database Physical Control').
Software Planning :
The evaluation and selection of database software as well
the evaluation of new DBMS features.
Education :
Provision of database education to application
programmers, analysts and business users.
DBMS Installation/Enhancements :
The installation/maintenance of DBMS software and the
development of various database utilities.
Database Security :
Maintenance of adequate security controls.
Database Standards Enforcement :
The maintenance and enforcement of DBMS and applications
standards.
Question 11.
Please indicate the percentage of your DBA work time which you
ACTUALLY manage to spend on each of the following DBA high-level
functions :-
NOTE : The purpose of this question is to gauge whether or not
the volume of work in particular function areas forces you
to spend more time on it than would be indicated by its
relative priority.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
| |1 |11 |21 |31 |41 |51 |61 |71 |81 |91 |
| |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |
| |10%|20%|30%|40%|50%|60%|70%|80%|90%|100|
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
|Database Physical Cntl | | | | | | | | | | |
|Admin of Data Items | | | | | | | | | | |
|DBMS-Based Appl Cntl | | | | | | | | | | |
|Hardware-Related Plng | | | | | | | | | | |
|Database Design | | | | | | | | | | |
|Software Planning | | | | | | | | | | |
|Education | | | | | | | | | | |
|DBMS Install/Enhance | | | | | | | | | | |
|Database Security | | | | | | | | | | |
|Db Stds Enforcement | | | | | | | | | | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question 12.
If in Question 11, you allocated a percentage of your time to the
high-level function 'Database Physical Control'. Please provide a
further level of detail by indicating (using a 'x') what
proportion of your 'Database Physical Control' time was spent on
the following lower level tasks.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
| |1 |11 |21 |31 |41 |51 |61 |71 |81 |91 |
| |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |to |
| |10%|20%|30%|40%|50%|60%|70%|80%|90%|100|
|+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
|Forecasting db growth | | | | | | | | | | |
|Design integrity cntls | | | | | | | | | | |
|Review change requests | | | | | | | | | | |
|Implementing db changes| | | | | | | | | | |
|Set db access policy | | | | | | | | | | |
|Set db retention policy| | | | | | | | | | |
|Loading database | | | | | | | | | | |
|Reorganising database | | | | | | | | | | |
|Backup/recover policy | | | | | | | | | | |
|Perform db bkup/recover| | | | | | | | | | |
|Schedule db access time| | | | | | | | | | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question 13.
Within your organisation, are any DBA specific tools (i.e. NOT
word processors and other general PC software packages) used :-
Within this question 'DBA specific tools' should be taken in its
widest sense and should include DBA tools provided by the DBMS
vendor, tools supplied by third party software vendors, in-house
written utilities or software downloaded from the internet.
However, you should not include ad-hoc scripts and/or jobs which
are created and used only once simply to perform a specific task.
Please indicate (using a 'x') whether or not your organisation
uses any 'DBA specific tools' and then proceed to the appropriate
question.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|Yes - DBA tools used | | Proceed to Question 14.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|No - DBA tools NOT used| | Proceed to Question 17.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question 14.
As your organisation uses 'DBA specific tools', please indicate
(using a 'x') all the sources where these came from :-
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|DBMS vendor | |
|Third party vendor | |
|In-house written | |
|Download from internet | |
|Other (please specify) | |
| | |
| .................... | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question 15.
Please indicate (using a scale ranging from 0 to 5), the relative
importance of your 'DBA specific tools' when performing each of
the following high-level DBA functions :-
NOTE : A value of 0 (zero) should be assigned to any high-level
functions, where a 'DBA specific tool' is not used at all.
All of the remaining functions, should be assigned a
number in the range 1 to 5. A 1 (one) indicates that a DBA
tool has minor importance within a particular high-level
function, while a 5 (five) indicates that a DBA tool has a
major importance.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|Database Physical Control | |
|Administration of Data Items | |
|DBMS-Based Application Control | |
|Hardware-Related Planning | |
|Database Design | |
|Software Planning | |
|Education | |
|DBMS Installation/Enhancements | |
|Database Security | |
|Database Standards Enforcement | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question 16.
If in Question 15, you indicated that a 'DBA specific tool' had
any importance within the high-level task 'Database Physical
Control', please indicate the relative importance of the DBA tools
for each of the following lower level tasks :-
As in Question 15, please indicate relative importance using a
number ranging in scale from 0 to 5.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|Forecasting database growth | |
|Designing integrity controls | |
|Reviewing modification requests| |
|Implementing db modifications | |
|Specifying db access policy | |
|Setting db retention policy | |
|Loading database | |
|Reorganising database | |
|Setting backup/recovery policy | |
|Performing db backup/recovery | |
|Scheduling db access time | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question 17.
From your personal experience, give an outline of the major
problems currently encountered with the administration of your
organisation's databases ?
How have these problems been tackled ?
NOTE : This question is optional, but any discussion on this
topic will be greatly appreciated.
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Question 18.
Thank-you for taking the time and effort to complete this
questionnaire. If you would like a copy of the completed project
report (which should be sent out via e-mail in December 1998),
please indicate this in the following box :-
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|Yes - send me a copy | |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thank-you again for taking the time to answer the above questions. As indicated in the covering letter, could you now please e-mail your completed questionnaire back to 'jerrym_at_cix.compulink.co.uk' rather than post replies back to the appropriate Newsnet group.
Many Thanks for your cooperation ........ Jerry McKeon Received on Sun Mar 01 1998 - 00:00:00 CST
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